something as simple as this
by detective-smartypants
Summary: AU. When the famous musician Maura Isles is put in danger, she is forced to hire security for her Boston concerts. BPD seem to think that former Detective Jane Rizzoli is perfect for the Job. Rizzles eventually.
1. Old Pine

**Okay firstly I want to say I own none of the characters that already appear on this show. Also, each song included will be the lyrics of a song by someone I like. I will state who at the start of each song that features in a chapter. This one is Ben howard, Old Pine. **

Maura placed her hands on the microphone and took a deep breath before looking up at the crowd in front of her. Over 30,000 people stood before her screaming her name as if she were the only thing that mattered in the entire world. It made her heart melt every time she saw a sign that glittered under the light, repeating her lyrics back at her. Her smile widened every time a fan threw their arms around her and cried about how her music saved their lives.

Music was more powerful than some people could ever understand. When Maura had started in the music industry, she was informed that no one would buy into her acoustic sound, right now was the time for pop music and people weren't interested in soft vocals and guitar strings. But she took that as a challenge accepted and begun her career path proving each label that had turned her down wrong. She mainly wrote songs about love and real life experiences, and at first her lyrics were simple but elegant. As her career began to take path, she began to write with more of a personal flow, with a deeper meaning and beauty about the things she saw every day of her life. But when she started out, with just a guitar and some money handed to her by her parents, she never imagined that she would be able to really talk to people through her music, much less _save their lives. _

The best part, she found, about letting the world have this piece of her, was that every single person took a different type of comfort in her music. Whether it be crying over a break up, losing a friend or even dealing with death, Maura managed to guide these people with lyrics and melodies.

She picked up her guitar and started to strum, letting her mind take her to where she needed to be for her opening number.

"_hot sand on toes, cold sand in sleeping bags, I come to know the memories were the best things we ever had." _

This song took her back to being 16 and celebrating her birthday on a warm beach in california. Her parents had transferred there a year before and somehow she had managed to make some friends in the 13 months she'd been there. The sun was about gone and the sand had been tinted with the orange from its rays. They sang around the fire late into the night and made s'mores and eventually fell asleep under the stars. It was probably one of the best birthdays Maura had ever experienced.

"_The summer shone, beat down on bony backs, so far from home where the ocean stood down dust and pine cone tracks." _

Maura closed her eyes and smiled, listening to every person in the room as they sung the words along with her, each person thinking of their own memory that came with that one song. Three hundred thousand memories being sung back at her and filling the air with such an atmosphere that could knock anyone off their feet.

_"we stood, steady as the stars in the wood, so happy hearted and the warmth rang true inside these bones. As the old pine fell we sang, just to bless the morning." _


	2. Redemption songs

**Wow thanks for the reviews and the follows guys! I want to try update this once a week, I'm going to make it so that I update every friday night because I have other commitments so I cant fully commit my time to updating every day! The first few chapters are going to be solely focusing on Maura, and I'll introduce Jane in chapter 4! **

_**I do not own rizzoli and isles. **_

Music was the first thing Maura thought about when she opened her eyes in the morning and the last thing she thought about when she fell asleep at night. Her dreams usually consisted of guitar chords and bridges to her new songs. It was fair to say that the only important thing In Maura's life was her songwriting pad, her guitar and her fans. She had family that cared for her but, upon leaving medical school to pursue her career in music, her adoptive mother and father cut her off from her trust fund and turned a blind eye on her career. They had only began to come around to her decision when her first album was selling and they heard a song of hers on the radio. They cared for her, but they still found it incredibly hard to accept that their wonderful, smart daughter would never be the successful medical examiner that she could have been.

She sat down on the back porch of her small house that was hidden in the middle of nowhere in North Carolina and pulled out her pad of paper and pen. The new album was nearly ready, but she was finding it hard to put together that one last song. So far, she had written 43 songs, some of which were wonderful and some not so much. Lately, with the stress of her American tour and the record label executives, she was finding it hard to pull herself together and think of what it was she needed to finish of this one song. Start this one song, actually. Although a majority of her songs were based on the ups and down's of relationships, she tried her best to focus on other things. It had been almost a year since the ending of her last serious relationship and she had taken all 11 months to find herself and what she could do to make her own life better instead of working on the hardships of a relationship. This song needed to be different, it needed to had elements that reached out to _everyone. _Not just a teenage girl who was about to embark on a new relationship, or start high school. Not just a woman who had just divorced the person she'd assumed to be the love of her life. This song had to focus on something entirely different. It had to reach the places that music was made to reach and change the lives that seemed so broken beyond repair. Some people believe that music is just music, but other's believe it was created to have the ability to mend a broken heart or make someone smile who hasn't smiled for 6 months. Music is the band aid that can be any colour or design, but doesn't hurt when you pull it off. It's the arms that wrap around you when a loved one isn't there to embrace you. The one good thing about music is, when it hits you, you feel no pain.*

Her home in NC was small and quaint, something she had invested in after the release of her very first album. It was an escape that she could never take for granted because not a sole knew about it. From her back yard, she could see nothing but the green of the farmland that surrounded her. It was situated about an hour and 50 minutes from the nearest airport, which meant that she could fly here and drive alone to the small house in the fields and forget about her life in the spotlight for just a few nights at a time.

While her tour was a constant rush of moving from place to place and filling up spare gaps with meetings and promotional events, Maura had negotiated in her contract that she should be allowed 6 days out of evert month to recharge her batteries. So many times, she had witnessed devoted singers losing their love for music upon starting tours because the business was just too hectic. She had taken it upon herself to demand just this one thing and in return she would be as cooperative as possible in the future when she needed to be.

Maura walked through her home, listening to the Dire Straits record she had left on in the living room and breathed in familiarity. This felt more like home than the house she took her first steps in. This felt more like home than the house in which she first spoke a word. This felt more like a home than any other place in which she had lived, because this was the home she had made for herself. Here, she wrote songs, and the lyrics were taped to the walls with pride in every room. Here, she drank wine that she had waited her whole life to try, and the bottles filled up the shelves in the wine cellar that she had built with the aid of an old friend. Here, she sang words that filled the air and made the rooms feel warm and welcoming. The piano was her very first and the guitar was signed by herself with an old permanent marker, back when she was only 11.

She poured herself a glass of vintage red wine and placed a record into the turntable and listened to the soft buzzing as the record span in circles. She waited for the music and took a few deep breaths. Finding the right song for her mood was sometimes a hard thing to do; finding the right song anytime was hard to do. She had so many records, knew so many songs, listened to so many different genres that sometimes it was just difficult to remember which ones made her feel most at ease. Today it was Bob Marley. A legend in so many ways. She sat down on her small sofa by the fire and closed her eyes, imagined Bob picking up his guitar and playing those first few notes before allowing his voice to follow. Music is freedom. Music is redemption. Music is happy, but it is also sad. Music is everything.

_"wont you help to sing these songs of freedom, cause all I ever had, redemption songs." _

Sometimes, even when a thousand people screamed her name in excitement, Maura would take a moment to realise that while she may be lucky in many ways, in others she was so incredibly unfortunate. She had money, but no one to spend it with. She had wine, but no one to drink it with. She had music, but no one to sing it with. Life on the road was lonely, because even though hundreds of thousands of people were always waiting, there would always be some people missing.

The following morning she booked her flight to her next venue in Boston and sat down at the dining room table to go through the mail she had picked up en route to the airport in LA. She always made an effort to read through her fan mail and other personal letters, but usually they would be mainly pleasant notes about how much her music had affected people and how enjoyable her music had been. Today, however, was different. The letter stood out above the rest because there was no return address, just her name in bold letters on the front of the envelope. She opened it up slowly and began to read.

_Maura Isles, where do I start? _

_I've been observing you for a while now. Maybe around 3 years? _

_Your first song, I think it was called 'time for something better?' wow that was a nice song. At first, I just enjoyed your music. It was pleasant and it kept me company. But then I saw your face and wow, I knew i needed to meet you. I did. 112 times. Although you never really noticed, apart from one time when I talked to you, but you were in such a rush, it was a short conversation. I usually stand at the side and watch you smile and laugh and that silly little lip licking thing you do. wow, I love that. Anyway, I hope you're enjoying your time away from working, you seem so serene when you go to NC. It must be a nice little retreat and that cottage is absolutely perfect. look at me…ranting away. I guess I just wanted to say that I'm not staying away anymore. Don't worry, I'm not behind you, I couldn't afford to follow you this time. I'm going to be in Boston, then I'll be in New York for your interviews, and at one point we'll be able to talk about how much you love me too. One day you'll realise what you're missing out on, and until then I will continute to follow you and write to you. _

_Oh, and watch out for your manager, he's been threatening to ban me from your next concert (oh I think he was hiding that one from you) _

_keep smiling, please and see you soon honey. _

_JF xoxoxoxoxoxoxo_

She dropped the paper like it burnt her skin and took a few steps back, knocking a chair down behind her shaking legs. She knew this was a possibility, it had happened to so many people, so many times. She just never realised what it felt like to have someone so close you to without you even knowing about it.

**The chapters will probably all be pretty short because I prefer small descriptive chapters over ranting for too long and boring people! **

**Review? **


	3. The Fear

**Okay, so I feel like this chapter is really just a fill in. I know that right now there isn't much to go by, but I will be introducing Jane in the next chapter and she and Maura will finally meet. Some good stuff is coming up, so stick with me! Good music, crazy stalkers and an (unexpected?) romance! **

She seared out the window at the runway as it began to speed up beside her and watched as her breath made the window fog. Even at this age, she wanted to write on the steam covering the patch of glass, but she didn't. There were only three of them on the plane, which made her feel uneasy. She very rarely used the advantage of having the ability to use the small planes because it was something she had always been afraid of. She preferred to fly on a regular plane with regular people, because that is what she considered herself to be.

Her stomach filled with butterflies as the world disappeared from beneath the plane and they lifted into the air, her body felt weightless as the wind pushed them up. She loved this feeling more than anything. Sometimes, she would take a plane to somewhere, anywhere and then fly back. Sometimes she wished that she could be in the air forever, with no duties or responsibilities, where she could look out of the window and not see a hundred faces staring back; just the clouds and the sun hitting the edge of the wing.

Today, going home wasn't something she could be excited about. She wasn't going to her huge home in Los Angeles to see her puppies or eat in nice restaurants, she was going home to have an emergency meeting regarding the letter she had received. Today, going home felt completely wrong.

Her manager, John, was waiting for her the second her plane touched down and he greeted her with a huge smile and a hug the way he always had. He was a great man, who took on the role of manager the moment he met Maura Isles in a small cafe in chicago. He had noticed her singing with a small banged up guitar in hand and knew from that second he needed her to work with him. While many managers he knew took on the role of a strict boss, he had immediately taken on the paternal role. The record label executives called him crazy from the beginning, telling him that no management could work with no discipline, but he had managed to discipline her from the very beginning, she was just a very good rule follower.

It was one of the very few days in LA where the sun had been completely hidden by angry black clouds and, even though the air was warm, the rain poured down heavily. Rain was something that Maura could never enjoy, the grey clouds made her miserable every time they rolled around and she always felt like curling up in bed and doing absolutely nothing.

"Why has it taken you this long to consider heightening your security?"

John's question brought Maura out of her thoughts and she turned to look at him slowly. He was a lovely man, very handsome for his age. His hair was grey now, but there was still a lot of it and his skin was healthy and always seemed to have a glow to it. He had the most vibrant blue eyes, the kind that could make any person weak at the knees. He was so kind at all times, but not to the people that weren't close to him. Maura had heard from other artists that he was one of the most sour men in the industry, but she always knew that wasn't true.

"I'm not sure. I guess I never thought it was necessary."

John pulled a large book from his briefcase and handed it to maura slowly, she could see the sorry look in his eyes, like he had been dreading this moment; like he had been hiding something from her for a long time.

"We don't know who this man is, Maura. But he has been sending you letters for a long time. It's never been anything too serious, he usually just talks about your music and how amazing you are. I kept it from you because it was never a threat before. I never thought it would end up being anything more than some strange crush."

She opened the book that was filled with letters, but she had no intention in reading anything inside them.

"You're flying out to Boston tonight and you have three shows there. We want to interview some people for the position of your security guard, but in the meantime we have someone over there who is going to do the Job. The cop who is going to be with you at all times recently dropped out of the homicide department after something happened to her, I never got any details but they said that she's one of the best. I was a little hesitant, but they assured me that she would be the best option for this position by a long shot."

"She?"

"Her name is Jane Rizzoli. All I know is that she went through a trauma around 10 months ago and isn't quite ready to go back into homicide. She's really devoted to her work and apparently she's pretty tough."

Maura shrugged and nodded her head. She wasn't entirely sure why, but she wasn't sure if she'd feel as safe around a woman her age instead of a strong guy who could fight off any perp. She wasn't pre-judging and she would trust any decision John made, but something didn't feel right. Why would anyone give up the role of a detective to be someone's bodyguard?

"She'll be working alongside an officer called Barry Frost and Frankie Rizzoli, her younger brother. She'll be the lead on this though, apparently they will not only be watching your back, but will also be setting up a hunt for the man who is behind this. Trust me, if you want protection anywhere, it's Boston. Their police department is absolutely amazing and hard working."

Maura nodded and turned her attention back to the streets outside the car. It was mid-may and soon the rain would be over and all the vibrant colours that lined the streets would be bringing the city back to life and the heat of the summer would be louring in the tourists at an alarming rate. She didn't much like it here during the summer and never fully understood why so many people travelled all the way here just to see the stars on the ground and the letters on the hill when there was so much more of the world to see.

When she was 17, she visited Scotland for the very first time. The local's had asked her why she had come here from such a lovely warm country and had warned her of how dull and boring the country could be. It was obvious that sometimes it could be incredibly hard to see beauty at your doorstep when it's the place you have to pay your bills and deal with your demons. Scotland was probably one of the most beautiful places she had ever visited, even to this day. In the north, the hills stretched out for hundreds of miles, covered in green grass and huge sharp rocks to climb. When the sun hit the mountains, the country had the most beautiful orange glow and the people were always so welcoming. Even the cities felt less suffocated and dirty, and the buildings were old and had so much meaning to them. It was somewhere she always found time to visit during the summer.

Why would people visit a country for their celebrities, when they could visit another for their culture?

America had so many vibrant points too, like the rocky mountains and the Grand Canyon, or the back yard in her cottage in NC. There were so many beautiful places and so many wonderful sights, maybe LA was just too much like work for her to truly enjoy the beaches and the movies.

Boston was another one of her hideaways. She had signed to a partner label here many years before and they had dealt a lot with getting her name on the map, when they had first teamed with John back in 1998. They had now been declared one of the most minor labels, but had managed to make names for some of the most major artists. Maura always enjoyed to play her music for the cheerful residence and almost always made time to have a beer in a small irish pub after all of her shows in the city. Today, her visit seemed so much less exciting though.

What would this Jane Rizzoli be like? Could she and her partners protect Maura from this stranger that seemed so hauntingly fascinated with her? Would Jane be a loud mouthed badass that looked at Maura as if she were some kind of rich, posh snob? Or would this team of dedicated detectives welcome Maura with open arms and protect her like it was their sole duty in life?

Maybe she shouldn't expect so much, it would only be for three days.


	4. All the little lights

**Thanks so much for the follows, favourites and reviews! Sorry for not being able to update fairly regularly, but I have a full time college course to keep up with unfortunately! The song lyrics I've included are from Passengers 'All the little lights' Its an absolutely beautiful song, give it a listen, its pretty amazing. **

_**I don't own Rizzoli and Isles. **_

Jane Rizzoli woke up sweating every single night at precisely 3:40am and each time she would be awake for the rest of the night, her might too busy to allow her to sleep. It had been exactly 9 months, 13 days and 6 hours since she had been saved and, yet, the memories still managed to follow her every move.

In the shower, she would remember his face being inches away from her own, and she would sit on the floor of the tub with her arms wrapped around her knees. In the kitchen, while she cut up her food, the knife would remind her of the glint of the silver scalpel as he held it above her face with a grin. In her sleep, he would laugh at her hysterically as she screamed out in pain and he would grab her by the neck and finish her off for good.

Every. Single. Night.

She had loved being a detective more than she could have ever imagined herself loving anything. She loved being able to give people the safety they deserved and being able to give the dead the justice they deserved. When she was a detective, she felt strong; she felt invincible. The second she held her badge in her hand, she never believed she could possibly let go of it.

He had taken that away from her.

When she woke up in the morning, she would ask herself where she would be at the end of the day. Was it possible to ever get over something like this? Could she ever be the detective she was before, knowing that she had acted so carelessly and weak?

She filled her days with basic cop work and filled her nights alone on her couch with the TV and a bottle of beer. Being a detective filled a gap inside of her that she'd never realised existed, and only now without her badge did she realise what it was that she had been missing all those years before. Still she wondered if being a detective was ever going to be a possibility again.

Her hands still worked, but they were slow and they hurt most days when she tried to do small things with them. Catching a ball was like breaking a bone and driving made the pain shoot up her arm and through her whole body. It always ached, even when her hands were still, the pain was always there.

She sat down on her sofa and looked out lifelessly at the rain bouncing against the window, she closed her eyes and unwillingly landed her mind back to that night.

_The basement was cold and, as she attempted to roll over on to her side and stand up, she realised that someone was standing over her. She opened her eyes slowly and blinked through the blurriness in her mind to find Charles Hoyt smiling down at her, his leg putting pressure on her stomach to stop her from moving. His smile made the blood in her veins turn ice cold, the glint in his eyes that were full of pleasure made her stomach heave with nausea. He was holding something in his hand and it reflected silver against the light. _

She came back to reality with a shudder and ran a hand through her hair, stopping herself from getting too emotional. She flicked the radio on and closed her eyes to the soft sound of guitar strings.

"_next up, Maura Isles with all the little lights" _

_"One went out in a bus stop in Edinburgh, one went out in an English park. One went out in a nightclub, when I Was fifteen. little lights in my heart." _

The woman's voice was soft and mellow and so full of depth and meaning, Jane laid back into the soft pillows of the couch and let the soft chords soothe her mind.

_"One went out when uncle Ben got his tumour, we used to fish and I fish no more. Though we will not return, I know one still burns in a fishing boat on the New Jersey shore." _

Although Jane had heard of this woman before on the streets or in magazines, she had never listened to her music. She had seen her face once, on the cover of VOGUE in the waiting room of the doctors and she had read her interview promoting her upcoming album, but had no interest in listening to her music. It was mainly because she was stubborn. Because she had been in the doctors office after a hard day and her pay had been cut due to her lack of hours over the past months and here was this woman in her bright red limited edition fancy italian dress and her 6 inch authentic leather heels with perfectly curled hair and a huge smile gracing her unbelievably perfect face, talking about how lovely it was to be able to get her music out there and how _blessed _she was that she could enjoy the comforts of such wonderful fashion icons in her wardrobe and here Jane was, sitting in the doctors office for her check up and going home to another night of cheap frozen meals and crappy television.

She had spent that entire day thinking about the woman on the magazine and how perfectly white her teeth were, how her hair hadn't fallen even a little out of place, how her skin was so flawless. Jane hated people like Maura Isles. People who had all the money in the entire world and spent it on whatever the hell they wanted to spend it on. What did they have to do to earn it? Take two scalpels to the hands and lay on a rotten cellar floor wondering if this would be the end? No. that was her. The woman who could barely afford food.

But listening to her music, she unfortunately had to internally admit, made her wonder about the woman who wasn't posing in front of a camera. It made her think about the woman who wasn't talking about her wealth or wearing italian designers. What did this woman do when she wasn't singing in front of 30,000 people? What kind of things bothered her? Were there things in her life that were more important than wealth and fame?

Everyone has a story.

"_we're born with millions of little lights shining in the dark, and they show us the way. One lights up every time you feel love in your heart. One dies when it moves away." _

Just as Jane was about to go to bed, her phone rang. She looked at the clock on the wall and wondered who the hell would be calling her at 11:34pm, especially now that she wasn't working in homicide. People very rarely bothered to call nowadays.

"Rizzoli."

"Jane, It's Frankie. Don't you have caller ID?"

"Yea, sorry…Whats up? Everything okay?"

Jane fell down onto the couch and put her feet up on the table with a sigh, waiting for some long conversation about how everyone was worried and about how she was barely sleeping or eating or _functioning_ for that matter.

"I just got a call from the boss. They asked me to contact you because they tried earlier and your line was busy. I know it's sunday tomorrow, but they want us to do a job for them."

"What is it, Frankie?"

"I dunno…There's some famous woman coming into town or somethin'…I dunno who it is or anythin' but they want us to do some security gig for them. Apparently it's a little extra money and it's only for two days."

Jane thought about turning it down for a moment because it was hard to bother getting up and doing work every day that her heart wasn't in, but she needed the money. So she sighed and pinched the bridge of her nose.

"They want us to meet up at the station in the morning' around 10 and they will explain what's involved. That okay?"

"Sure, Frankie."

She had tried to make her voice strong and confident like it had been before. She had tried to make it sound like it was something she was genuinely interested in, but these days she never saw the point in bothering with effort and emotions.

"Hey…Jane?"

"yeah?"

"You'll be a detective again."

He hung up the phone and Jane sighed down the receiver, tears already welling up in her eyes that she wouldn't even bother to stop. Would she ever get that courage back?

"_I hope so._"


	5. You're no God

Jane Rizzoli peered out of the window of her car at the crowd of buzzing fans and sighed at the thought of the job she was about to do. Before, she was a strong and hard working detective and she never could have imagined living life any differently. Now, she questioned every day whether or not she could ever go back to the life she had lived so confidently. Her hands started to ache and she curled her fingers in and out, trying to ease the pain. It mostly occurred when the weather was too hot or too cold, but today it was just there for no good reason at all.

Beside her, her brother Frankie was craning his head to try and get a better view of the oncoming limo and the crowd that screamed so passionately and he laughed inwardly at the girls who cried out as if a god were in their path. He turned to Jane and put a supportive hand on her shoulder, knowing all too well that this task was below her abilities. She once helped put away murderers and tackled down the bad guys and now she was waiting to escort a celebrity to their hotel room.

"God, they're all fucking crazy."

Jane laughed and took a gulp of her coffee, "I don't see the big deal. I mean, I'd get it if it were some sports hero but all the woman does is sing songs about love and she gets this?" She shook her head and sighed as the limo came to a stop beside them. "best get this show on the road, bro."

They got out of the car and raised their arms around the opened limo door to stop anyone from getting past, waiting for the blonde to step out of the car. The orders from the boss were simple: Don't talk to her, and protect her. Frankie was the first to let out an involuntary gasp as she emerged from the black car, his eyes immediately going to the blondes small waist and large bust, and Jane kicked him with her heel to grab his attention. One thing she hated was seeing her brother drool over women.

Jane would never admit it, but her first thought at the sight of the singer was how breathtakingly beautiful she was, even more beautiful than in the magazine she had seen her in. Money couldn't buy you happiness, but it sure as hell could buy you beauty.

Once inside the large hotel, Jane and Frankie directed Maura to the elevators and stood inside on either side of the small woman, both quietly looking back and forth at each other.

"I know they told you both not to talk to me, but it's just rude not to introduce yourself."

Jane gave the woman a displeased frown and extended her hand reluctantly, forcing a smile. "Jane Rizzoli, that's my brother Frankie."

Maura smiled at both of the officers and shook their hands gently. "I'm Maura Isles. It's good to meet you."

Jane noticed the tone in the other woman's voice, as if the woman wasn't big on introductions herself. She sounded as though it took every fibre of her being just to put well constructed sentences together and, like before, it made Jane wonder about this woman. Who she was when she wasn't being protected from a crowd of enthusiastic fans.

She'd heard rumours before about how Maura Isles would only connect with her fans on stage, and that when she met them face to face she would often be shifty and uncomfortable. She'd remembered hearing about the interview she had once done on TV where she talked about how grateful she was to have such a huge fan base, but how it sometimes terrified her.

She wondered what or who made her that way.

"My manager mentioned that you were both incredibly hard working officers, It's good to know I will have such strong people to make sure this man doesn't get past anyone."

Jane smiled and nodded her head without speaking, turning her attention back to the wall in front of her.

"He mentioned you were a homicide detective before, that must have been an exciting job."

Jane suppressed an annoyed chuckle. "Yeah, exciting."

Frankie flashed a look of anger at Jane for her sarcastic tone and both of them looked back at the wall. The elevator came to a stop and they followed Maura to her room, stopping outside the premier suite. She turned on her heels and smiled at both of them thankfully, but made no move to walk into the room.

"you need us to walk in with you or somethin'" Jane glanced over at Frankie who was glaring at her for her dry attitude. "or are you just waitin' for us to leave?"

"Listen, I know as well as you that you don't want to be here officer Rizzoli. I understand that this job is somewhat demeaning compared to your old status. However, there is no need to use such a judgemental tone with me just because of what people make you think that I am. I may have fans, but I am still a human being. You don't need to worry, I'm only here for three days and then you can go back to your job of…whatever it is that you do…and you never need to think about me again. Just do me one favour and talk to me like you would talk to anyone else, otherwise I will find someone else to help me that actually wants to do it."

It wasn't that Jane just didn't like Maura. She was just tired of doing jobs like this, of working for people and under people and roaming the streets rather than doing the thing she was born to do. Something inside her told her that this was her decision. No one forced her to leave the homicide department, but she still knew that she couldn't go back right now. Maybe not ever.

"How about you just let us do our job and you do yours and we just get on with things and get you out of Boston safely?"

"Well…There's no need to be rude about it. I'll be on my way on saturday and you wont ever have to worry about forcing yourself to stick around me after then."

Maura turned back to her door after a forced polite smile and, before Jane could get another word in, she had stepped into the room and closed the door behind her.

"What a woman. Thank god I don't need to work around that every day."

**Okay this chapter is absolutely awful, i know. I wanted to do the meeting a lot better, but at the same time I needed to do it this way because I just get the impression that someone like jane wouldn't like someone like maura at first, especially in this scenario. Don't worry, it won't be like this the whole way through. **


	6. Closest thing to Crazy

**Thanks for the reviews, updates will be more often now due to college being finished for the year. **

**I don't own Rizzoli and Isles and the song featured in this chapter belongs to Katie Melua. **

Jane had been to concerts before, they were nothing new to her. The concerts she had experienced were the type that you would stand in the middle of a sweaty group of rock fans screaming as loud as their lungs would allow and spilling their beer down your top, most of them she would describe as the best night of her life. This concert was different, though.

She was standing beside the stage where Maura would go on and off and Frankie stood opposite her at the other end of the stage, with his arms crossed around his chest giving of a dont-fuck-with-me growl. She watched as Maura took her place in the centre stage and the floor vibrated with the sound of screaming fans. She took her seat on a small wooden chair and someone handed her a shiny new guitar. She held it in her hands with ease, like it was the only thing in the entire world that she could really connect with. Like it was the most familiar thing to ever exist. Jane wondered, like she had before, if there had ever been a person in Maura's life that she could hold that way. So perfectly.

The crowd died down and all that could be heard was the sound of Maura's breath against the microphone. Jane waited for her to introduce herself, but she didn't. She simply smiled and began to move her hands up and down the guitar with ease and pluck each string softly. Jane had never heard a guitar so beautiful. But her voice nearly made jane fall to the floor.

"_how can I think I'm standing strong, yet feel the air beneath my feet? How can happiness feel so wrong? How can misery feel so sweet?" _

Maura took a gasp of air, and Jane watched in shock as each person in the audience went completely silent. They weren't singing along. They weren't screaming. They were just watching her.

"_how can you let me watch you sleep, then break my dreams the way you do? How can I have got in so deep? Why did I fall in love with you?" _

Jane had read once that music could do more than just make a person happy or sad. She had read once that it could reach parts of people that words and pictures could not.

_The hospital was cold and lonely, even with the other kids running around and the nurses popping their heads in every few minutes to make sure everything was okay. All the other kids were playing and painting, but Jane had felt as though getting out of bed would be too painful. She was busy staring at the roof and thinking about how excited she was to go home and play with her little brother and eat her ma's amazing food, when a woman walked through the door. She looked over and have her a questioning glance when she saw the guitars on her back and the large suitcase she was trailing behind her. _

_Somehow, she managed to dangle her little legs off the edge of the bed and jump down, groaning at the surge of pain through her abdomen. _

_"Hey, lady…howcome you got so many stuff with you? are ya visiting someone?" _

_The lady knelt down to the ground and smiled at Jane while ruffling her wild black hair. "I'm a music therapist." _

_"Whaddaya mean?" _

_The lady pulled a flute from her bag and assembled it quickly. "Why are you here?" _

_Jane shrugged her shoulders and sighed. "I had to get out my appendix. I got a lot of pain, so I don't get to go home till tomorrow." _

_"What's your name? What age are you?" _

_"I'm Jane Rizzoli and I am seven years old." She held up her fingers to prove that she knew the number of her age. _

_The music lady sat down on the floor and crossed her legs, gesturing for Jane to do the same. _

_"Do you like music?" _

_"I guess." _

_"Does it ever make you feel better when you're sad?" _

_Jane smiled and nodded her head. "my pop plays his happy records whenever I get hurt and sometimes it makes me forget I even have a cut or even that I am sad." _

_The music lady blew into the silver flute and played a few notes of a melody Jane didn't recognise. It was beautiful. _

_"My job is to help make people feel better when they're sick or they're sad. I come and play instruments and play their favourite songs so that they don't need to think about pain. Sometimes it really helps people and It's a really fun job." _

_"wow. Are ya gonna play here today?" _

_"I am. I hope you can join in." _

_Jane gave the biggest grin her face would allow and nodded her head fiercely. _

_"you bet." _

Jane smiled at the memory and turned her attention back to Maura, who was deep into the chorus by now.

"_this is the closest thing to crazy, I have ever been. Feeling twenty-two, acting seventeen. This is the nearest thing to crazy, I have ever known. I was never crazy on my own. And now I know, that there's a link between the two. being close to craziness and being close to you." _

Behind the money and the fame, Jane saw a flicker of a woman who wanted nothing more than to help people in her own way. She had spent the past ten hours doing her best to make sure she and this woman had a professional space between them, but she couldn't help but admit to herself (but not out lout) that seeing this woman in her own space, singing her own words, made her feel like maybe all she wanted to do was give Maura isles a hug.

Most likely, her opinion would change back to the 'I've worked to hard to put up with your snobby rich bullshit' attitude by the time the last chord of the night was strummed. Jane knew more than anyone that she was too stubborn to let her 'i'm a tough strong woman' guard down for anyone; it wasn't that she didn't want to like people. She wanted that, more than she wanted a lot of things. But she was Jane Rizzoli and the truth of the matter was that Jane Rizzoli doesn't need anyone…and no one needs Jane Rizzoli.

She watched her perform a setlist of beautiful and heartbreaking melodies and felt every emotion that Maura was singing while she was doing it. She had felt emotions with music before, but this was overwhelming. She had never felt the urge to run up to someone and hug them tightly so much in her entire life.

By the time the concert was over, Jane was staring at Maura with a look of disbelief written on her face. She had never seen someone capture an audience like that before with just a guitar and a voice, but Maura Isles seemed to know how to do it so well. Her songs were so filled with meaning that they made Jane's heart swell and her eyes prickly with tears she wouldn't dare shed.

Maura placed her guitar back on the stand, smiled at the audience and walked off the stage towards Jane with a polite 'thank you'.

"I just need to get my things from the dressing room and talk to a few people then we can be on our way."

Jane wanted to speak, she wanted to retort with something bitchy and sarcastic. But her voice just wouldn't budge.

"Officer Rizzoli?"

"oh," She quickly squared up her shoulders and clenched her teeth together to stop the trembling of her lips.

"Would you mind coming with me while I gather my things?"

_Say something, you absolute Idiot. _

"Sure."

Jane watched as Maura packed her belongings into her bag and pulled her hair into a messy, yet somehow elegant, bun. She pulled a hooded sweater over her head and dabbed on a little lipgloss before turning back to face her.

"Have you ever been to a concert before?"

"Yeah…I mean of course I have, who do you think I am? Just cause I don't have a load of money doesn't mean I don't get out, you know."

Maura simply smiled politely and lead Jane out of the dressing room.

"I mean…" Jane took a deep breath and urged herself not to be a bitch this time around. "you were good."

"Thank you. It wasn't the best show I've ever done, I mean…the audience were great but I wasn't feeling it tonight with all that's going on."

Jane nodded and lead Maura out to her limo.

"You want me to follow you in the car or come in there with you?"

"I guess i would like it if you could possibly escort me to the hotel. I'm feeling a little insecure tonight."

"yeah," Jane sat down next to Maura and closed the door behind her, looking back out at the eerie dark night, "I get that."

_When they asked her about the pain, she simply nodded her head silently. How could she explain the extent of how excruciating it was? Her hands were red hot like the sun. Not just hot, but unbearable fire on the palms of her hands. It wasn't jus the heat that got to her, it was the sensation of a thousand needles piercing her skin at once and they had warned her that taking the scalpels out would hurt even more. She wondered how that would even be possible. _

_"I'm going to count to five, Jane. Just take a deep breath, okay?" _

_She couldn't find a way to respond, not words nor movements. She was terrified. _

_"Okay, one…two…three…four…fiv-" _

_The world turned black for a second and she could hear the blood thundering through her ears like a herd of lions running for their prey. She felt a rush of calm speed through her body and cary her like the waves of an ocean. She felt nothing. _

_But the fear came rushing back and with it came a pain that could never be described. she would rather walk through fire. _

_"You done good." _

"Hey?"

Jane looked around from the window and noticed Maura staring at her with worry etched across her features. Jane wondered if Maura had ever had the chance to worry for anyone else.

"Is everything okay? You've been awfully silent and you're shaking."

Jane shook the image from her head and took a shaky breath before running her hand through her hair. "I'm fine."

Something felt different. Jane couldn't quite place it. Maybe she just didn't hate Maura quite as much. Maybe that was another thing music could change. But she wanted to talk to this woman. This woman she'd never met until only a few hours before. This woman that she couldn't stand the look of just by seeing her in a picture. This woman who appeared out of nowhere, yet seemed so completely familiar.

It was probably just the music.

They walked through the lobby and up to the hotel room together, Maura stopping dead in her tracks when they saw a small note on the floor outside Maura's room.

She opened it up slowly and, with shaking hands, read it.

_Maura, Darling. _

_It was so lovely to see you tonight, so very wonderful. Your music gets to me more than I could ever even begin to explain. _

_I couldn't help but notice the woman and two guys that have been following you around, though. My dear, I hope they aren't there to protect you. That's my job, my love. _

_I hope you know that, while I love you with all my heart, if anyone tries to get in the way, no matter how much they mean to you. I will not hesitate to kill them. _

_I would literally kill for you, baby. _

_x x you know who x x"_


	7. Little Talks

_A/N: Thanks so much for all of the reviews and the favourites/follows, I really do appreciate it, and it's what makes me continue to write. I hope there are people who are enjoying the path I am taking with this story, and the characters will develop as time goes on. There are so many things yet to come out and so much action still to happen, hopefully you will all stick around long enough to see this. _

_**I do not own Rizzoli and isles, all characters (unless otherwise stated) belong to Janet Tamaro, Tess Gerritsen and TNT. **_

Maura was pacing back and forth and running her hands through her hair when Jane finally got off the phone to the precinct. She looked up at the blonde and frowned at her frantic expression and pale face. She sat her phone down on the coffee table in the middle of the hotel and walked up to Maura, grabbing onto her arm.

"We're gonna get a 24 hour watch on your room. No one will get in, you don't have to worry. We're here to do a job and we're gonna do it."

Maura stopped and seemed to look up at Jane for a moment. Jane had been observing her, which was something she wouldn't normally do. She'd never like anyone to catch her watching, but with Maura she was so intrigued. For a woman that wrote such meaningful and heartfelt music, she was so…Jane still hadn't figured it out yet. But she seemed to have a good way of keeping her face a blank canvas; Jane wondered if people had misjudged her as being cold in the past. Jane wondered if that was something she wanted people to think.

Was she a wall builder like Jane? Or was she just disconnected from human interactions?

"Why are you the only one who is here? And if you are all going to do a great job like you say you are…why have I only seen two people on guard? You and officer Rizzoli have been the only ones that have been watching over me, I have yet to see another person that could help me out."

Jane sighed "Frankie is on his way here with a couple of officers from the precinct. He said that he wouldn't be any longer than ten minutes and that he was filling some things out right now, but you'll be okay. I'll be here with you until they get here, it wont be a problem. We have another officer joining us tomorrow, his name is Barry Frost and he just got here from another state. I'm sorry things have gotten past you, it won't happen again."

Maura seemed to let a slip of emotion cross her face and her eyebrows wrinkled together for a moment, before she took a deep breath and looked down at the ground. "I'm terribly sorry for being impolite. It won't happen again, Officer."

Officer. The one word Jane couldn't stand. Officer, according to the police academy, was the lowest rank you could be. She hated that this is where she had ended up, but she knew that she had to take this job for the time being and she also knew that _officer _wasn't her real job title. It was probably lower than that. Security guard. Bodyguard.

Somewhere along the way, she had lost the one thing that had always kept her so strong and independent, all because of this one man. Now, instead of fighting crime and putting away the really bad guys, she was protecting someone for all of three days from a man she was yet to see. This didn't mean that Maura shouldn't worry, because she should. People could do bad things, and she had learned that a long time ago.

She just wasn't used to working in such a low down environment.

She just hated the term _officer. _

"Call me Jane."

"Jane. Okay."

They sat down on the small sofa in the main room of the premier suite and Jane looked around the room awkwardly at the silence that had fallen. She looked down at the crescents on her hands and started to massage them together, to ease the dull pain that had been building during the day.

"You should massage them three times a day, at least. So to keep the circulation in them."

Jane was startled for a moment at the sound of Maura's calm voice and she looked up from her hands, losing herself for a moment at the innocent woman who was staring at her intently. Quickly, she gathered herself together and dug her hands into her trouser pockets. She hated people looking at them.

"I…uh…I was sure you were a singer, not a doctor." her voice was a little harsh, but not mean or angry, just a little stern. Just to throw Maura off of her hands.

Maura smiled and moved a little closer to Jane. "I was in medical school for two years."

"You wanted to be a nurse? Wow that's a drastic change to a singer."

She had only known this woman for 18 hours and she had to remind herself that, because all day she had been feeling these bursts of strange emotions, emotions that made her feel as though this woman was familiar; as though she'd known her forever.

"Actually, a Medical Examiner. I used to be fascinated with it, actually."

Jane seemed to find her head at a strange angle as she looked at Maura in confusion. She just couldn't seem to figure out how someone goes from being a medical examiner, to a singer. How does someone go from wanting to help dead people to singing songs about love?

"I wanted to help people," Maura spoke in the same tone she had used for every conversation they had had throughout the time they had spent together. Even and cool. "and my family wanted me to use my brains. Apparently I am one gifted human being. I went through school with tremendous grades and started college a year early, my parents decided that would be the correct career choice for myself."

Jane thought for a moment about a little Maura with her perfect grades and her little microscope, sneaking into one of the rooms in her large house to listen to her favourite CD's and teaching herself how to play guitar when her parent's weren't home.

"I loved music. I had always loved music, ever since I was a really small child and my father played his classical vinyls. But I never had much of a variation to genres. When I got a little older, I started to go to record stores and buy different types like Joy Division and The Smiths. I loved old indie rock UK bands, but I also discovered Eva Cassidy and The Carpenters. I guess my taste grew, I started to collect them, hundreds of them. Pop, punk, rock…everything. I loved Queen and Elvis and even Bach. The more I listened to it, the more I loved it."

Jane thought back on the days she would listen to her pop's records. Led Zeppelin, Pink Floyd, The Who. She loved loud angry music and she would stand in the middle of the living room for hours and bang her head to the music when her ma and pop were out in the garden or cooking dinner.

"Do you still keep your records?"

Maura smiled and nodded, she seemed to lose herself for a moment, as though she was thinking about a safer place. "I have a nice home in the countryside and I have a room that I keep all of my oldest stuff in. I keep my newer collections in Los Angeles, but that place is my go-to place to relax."

Jane thought about safety for a moment. She thought about how little the word meant to her as of late, how far away from safety she constantly felt. She wondered what security felt like, what it felt like to walk without fearing there is someone behind you. Jane hadn't felt safe for months now.

She was about to say something when there was a knock at the door and she jumped up quickly, realising how close she and Maura had become in a matter of minutes. She had to be professional. She had to remember that there was a strong line between she and Maura. She was the help. Maura was the celebrity.

"Jane, It's Frankie!"

She opened the door and smiled at her brother, who had two officers standing behind him.

"Hey, I tried phonin' you to let you know I was here…why don't you ever answer that thing?"

Jane had only just realised that her phone had been sitting in her lap during her conversation with Maura and she had completely disregarded it. "Sorry, we were talkin' is all."

Maura shook Frankies hand and welcomed he and the officers into the room to take a seat. Jane stood standing and watched them discussing Maura's options.

"So I'm after talkin' to your boss. That manager, I've forgot his name. He said you could either do the two concerts you're here to do, or you can go home tonight. He doesn't want ya to be worried about anything'"

Maura seemed a little uneasy, but straightened herself up and shook her head. "I just need to find another hotel."

Jane watched the back and forth chat in front of her and she sunk in on herself for a moment, thinking about things she didn't want to think about. Here was this woman, scared for her life, in a vulnerable position just like Jane. Here she was, and yet she was continuing to do what she wanted to do. She wasn't going to let one maniac stop her; in fact, she was probably going to move on with life when the man was caught and write music that would knock people off their feet. She wasn't pacing the floor, or downing a bottle of vodka; she wasn't terrified like Jane. Jane couldn't help but envy her, wonder where on earth it was that she found this inner strength to just _continue_.

Maybe it had something to do with the fact that she hadn't faced her monster yet.

Because once you see the things Jane has seen, once you've faced the demon's she has faced; you change. You notice the bad in the world, the evil in the air. Once you see these things, you cannot take it back.

So maybe that's why so many people in the world continued to walk around, knowing the threats that were following close behind them. Maybe that's why so many people still laughed while there were people being killed. Maybe that's why people worked, even when there were men and women out there with guns in their hands. Maybe it was because ignorance is bliss. Jane wished she had that option.

"Are you sure you wanna stay in Boston?"

Maura seemed scared when Jane finally looked at her, and she could see the light shaking in her hands, despite the calm expression in her face.

"Yeah," She mumbled, and made an effort to straighten her posture. "I mean, it _is _only two days. I'm sure the men of your department will be able to keep an eye out for me whilst I am here."

Then Jane spoke out loud without realising she was actually speaking out loud, and she instantly regretted the words that escaped her lips.

"I have a spare room."


	8. Just Tonight

_A/N: As per usual, I need to say a huge thank you. The response I've been getting is amazing and I'm so grateful to have people following this little idea even when it's been pretty bad. I wanted to do this chapter the second I came up with the idea, because I like to throw in a little dialogue and I didn't want them to instantly fall in love (although I really wish they would on the show) I wanted things to be gradual, so I knew a chapter of just conversation would be a good way of doing this. They need to get to know each other before they really start to __**know **__each other. _

_So I hope that you enjoy this chapter, however action-filled it is not. (Don't worry, that's coming soon.) _

_**I do not own Rizzoli and isles and all characters belong to Janet Tamaro and TNT unless stated otherwise. **_

Jane had been embarrassed the second the words had come out of her mouth. Partly, because she had completely lied about having a spare room. She lived in a small beat up apartment in a semi-decent area of the city, which completely lacked originality with its dull colour scheme and worn out furniture, and she probably hadn't cleaned it in a good while. It wasn't just that she was worried about what Maura might think of her small apartment, or even just the fact that she had only just met this woman. She was worried about the nightmares that had caused her to wake up, screaming and knotted in her sheets, nearly every night for the past 10 months. It was something she had gotten used to dealing with alone, and she hadn't once figured that someone might actually become witness of the monstrosity that was her nightly routine.

Still, once she had said it and once Maura had thankfully complied, she couldn't turn back on her words. She had left Maura to pick up her things from the hotel and check herself out with the guide of Frankie, and had run home to clean up whatever mess was waiting for her.

She hadn't seemed too bothered by Jane's small space when she arrived at the door with Frankie on tow. She had walked in, smiled and looked around for a moment, mentioning that she loved how 'homey' it felt. Which Jane knew was a total lie. Jane grabbed her bags and showed her to her bedroom that she had only just cleaned up in a quick dash. They had sat in an awkward silence for the first thirty minutes before Jane offered her a glass of the wine that had somehow found its way into her fridge. It was probably the cheapest of the cheap, and she cringed at the smell when she had poured it out. She settled for a bottle of beer and quickly downed as much as she possibly could in an effort to rid herself of any anxiety she had about this whole situation.

"Do you ever wonder what your life would be like if you hadn't chosen music?" Maura was sitting on Jane's sofa with her glass of wine when Jane broke the comfortable silence they had gotten used to. She looked at Jane, who was standing with her back leaning against the kitchen counter, she took a sip of her beer and continued, "I mean…was it hard to change the prospect of your whole future?"

Maura thought for a moment and sat her glass down on the table in front of her. Would she have had a better life as a medical examiner? Would she have been happier knowing her parents were supporting her? There was always the small voice in her head telling her that the decision she had made was wrong, that her parent's had reason to be upset. Why would you give up helping people who have died to make music? To help people who were alive?

"I guess," She smiled when Jane walked over to the sofa and sat down at the other side, leaving a noticeable gap between them both. "I mean, I enjoyed medical school. I was absolutely enthralled with the idea of being a voice for the people who had died; the people who would never be able to seek justice had it not been for me. I loved the science and I was great at it, too."

"But?"

Maura sighed and took another drink of her wine, she leaned back against the sofa and kept her line of vision towards the door behind Jane. "People in the medical profession can be so cold. I guess you have to distance yourself if you are going to be witnessing the things they witness. You have to keep an even mind at all times. I was never much of a talker; in fact, the only time times that I really felt…connected to anything was when I was listening to a good album. I was so different when I was listening to music, and It was something I wanted to keep. But when would I have time to play guitar if I was performing autopsies day in, day out? I started to play these small venues on my days off, and people seemed to really enjoy it…" Maura seemed to lose herself for a moment, but she smiled and said, "I couldn't connect with people through words. Eye contact wasn't something I could do. But music? Give me a guitar and I'll play for a crowd of a thousand for hours. It's different. Rewarding."

It still seemed surreal, even now after 5 years of singing in front of crowds, and 2 of doing stadiums. There were so many people who adored her, who looked up to her, and she still couldn't figure out why that was. All she did was write songs and sing them, what was there to adore? She sometimes felt as though there had been a mix up; as though all those people had accidentally fell in love with her music and felt obliged to continue listening. What exactly made them love her? She couldn't help but think about how lucky she was, how blessed, but at what cost? Fear? Someone, who would never have found her if she hadn't been a singer, was obsessed to the point of threatening those around her. She wanted to tell everyone about the person she really was, when she wasn't singing. When she wasn't famous. She was disconnected and, well, most of the time she couldn't really say who she was. Just…boring?

"Is the fame hard?"

She laughed a little, mainly at the idea that Jane seemed to be looking right into her mind. Here was this woman she barely knew, and she knew exactly what she was thinking. "It is…but it can be incredibly rewarding."

She took her gaze off of the door and looked straight at Jane. For the first time, she really noticed her. She was pretty, her Jaw line was stern and sharp, her eyes were dark brown and full of emotion. She looked tired, worn out. Maura realised that, while she was telling Jane all about her past, she knew nothing of Jane's. But she knew by the way Jane had hid her hands deep in her pocket and by the way Jane had avoided all eye contact when they had first met, that she wasn't a talker. She could tell that she was the kind of person who would rather listen to other people talk, than talk about herself.

Maybe there were too many demon's to discuss.

Maura wasn't much of a talker, that she had always told herself. Yet, here she was, sitting in this woman's living room with a glass of wine, looking directly into her eyes and telling her about things she had never really discussed.

"How do your parent's cope? I mean…it must be strange to see your daughter on billboards and magazines?"

That was the one question she had hoped Jane would avoid. She wondered how to explain what had happened when she had told them she was leaving medical school.

_"Oh, Maura. We weren't expecting to see you tonight. Aren't you supposed to be studying for finals?" _

_Maura had pulled up in front of the Isles' large house and stopped for a moment to gather herself, before walking up to the door and knocking. Their Maid, Andrea, answered with a pleasant smile on her face and welcomed her into their home. _

_Her mother had been in the main lounge reading a journal when she walked in, and immediately stood up to greet her daughter. Two kisses on the cheek and a polite smile. That's how you greet people in this household. _

_"Mother. It's good to see you." She took a seat and placed her hands in her lap, trying to keep herself calm and cool so she could be prepared for the explosion that she was about to witness. "I was hoping to talk to you and Father." _

_She couldn't help but sigh quietly at the lack of communication she and her mother had always had. Her mother and Father had given her a lovely life, they had raised her well and provided her with everything she needed for her future. She had never gone without clothes or food or money. She was grateful for everything she had been given throughout her life. But she still wondered, and she'd hoped it never made her selfish, what it would be like to be tucked in at night, or to be hugged tightly and thrown about in the air by her father when she was younger. She couldn't help but want less money and more parenting_.

_"What seems to be the problem? Your father will be home in about five minutes. Would you like to stay for dinner? I can have Andrea set you a place at the table." _

_Maura shook her head and smiled at her mother. Truth be told, she wanted to say what she needed to say and run out of there as fast as her legs would allow. _

_True to her mother's word, her father arrived home a few short minutes later and was quick to greet his daughter with a smile and a small hug. _

_They sat down in front of her and Andrea handed her a glass of water, which she refused to hold due to the shaking in her hands. _

_"Mother, Father. It's so lovely to see you both. I drove down tonight because I needed to discuss something important with you both. I understand that it is something you might not be happy about, but it's something that I needed to talk to you about." _

_They nodded and wished for her to continue, and she couldn't rid the small shake from her voice as she did. "I'm not sure if either of you know, but I've been doing a lot of small performances lately. I have always been fascinated with music and I am sure you are both aware of this by now." _

_Constance seemed to catch on to where the conversation might be headed, and Maura noticed the stern look on her mother's features. _

_"I was approached by a man around a month ago. He was an A&R scout from an incredibly large music company in Los Angeles. He explained to me that he had come here at the recommendation of a collegue to hear me play, and that he was interested in taking me under his guidance." _

_Both of her Parent's shifted uncomfortably and looked at each other, aware of what was going to be said next. _

_"It's not that I don't enjoy Medical School. I do, and I'm incredibly grateful that I was given the opportunity to study in such an intelligent environment. I've enjoyed it these past couple of years. I really have." She thought about how to word what she was about to say for a moment and she looked directly into her mothers eyes for the first time in over two years. They were emotionless. "I just can't help but think that I am only following that path because it is where you have both wanted me to be. I've always wanted to help people and change people's lives. But It's taken me a long time to realise that I can do that through the medium of music." _

_"Are you saying that you want to leave medical school?" For the first time in her entire life, her mother's voice was not calm. It was not cool. It was not collected. It was disappointed. "Maura Dorthea Isles, I do not want to hear another word." _

_She thought for a moment about disregarding the idea all together and doing what it was she had always planned. But why should she life her life according to other people's preferences? Why should she give up on the one thing that had made her feel truly happy, just to please her parents. She had spent her entire life living up to her name. She had never received any less than an A+ and she had never stepped out of place. She had smiled when they told her to smile and she had frowned when no one was watching. The woman in this family do not show emotions that might make other people feel uncomfortable. She had complied, even when it made her feel incredibly unhappy. She had shipped herself off to one of the most prestigious boarding school in finland that was created for young Genius'. Even then, when __**she **__had made the decision to live thousands of miles from her parents just to get the grades that made them happy, they hadn't told her they were proud. _

_Which raised the question: Would they ever truly be proud? Would there be any point of pushing herself to the brink for one second longer if she would never see a smile in return? _

_"I'm sorry to disappoint you. I really am. But you have always taught me that I should be a respected and happy woman. You have always taught me to push myself and do the things I am capable of doing. Mother, the only way that I will be able to be the woman you want me to be is if I am comfortable. I love music and I am good at what I do. I am sorry that it isn't what you had planned for me. But for once in my life, I'm taking steps that I want to take." _

_She stood up and started to walk towards the door, before turning on her feet and looking at her parent's who hadn't made a move to stop her from leaving. "I just want to be happy, Mother." _

_Before she opened the door, she heard her mother Yell from the lounge. "Maura Isles, If you leave this house I never want to see you back." _

_"Goodbye." _

"I guess they just do what they can to support me. I don't see them very often."

Jane smiled and pushed herself back onto the couch, pulling up her legs and crossing them, looking at Maura expectantly for more.

"I see my ma far too often, I guess that makes you the lucky one." She joked. Maura knew she was joking, and had it been anyone else she would have felt somewhat offended. Because she wasn't lucky. Not at all. It had been three years since she had last talked to her parents face to face, and had only talked on the phone with them from time to time in that duration. Being who was was had caused a large drift, and she had wished that she could have it differently.

"I mean, My ma is great. She's a real trouper and she has supported me and my brothers through everything we've done. She gives me a hard time a lot of the times, I guess because she worries. She always uses the old 'I had stretchmarks for you' routine. Your mother ever use that one? I swear, If i had a penny for every time she's said that to me…" Jane stopped mid sentence and frowned, Maura guessed that she had noticed the fact that there were a few tears dripping down her face. She cursed herself for being over emotional, and she wished that she could keep her cool manner at all times like her mother had taught her. But sometimes a slip of emotion would hit her that she just couldn't deny.

"I'm sorry…I…"

"Here," Jane left the room for a moment and came back with a box of tissues in hand, taking a few out and handing them to Maura. "are you okay?"

Maura tried to tell herself that she was being irrational, but she knew exactly why she was upset. Her mother had never endured stretchmarks for her and it occurred to her, and not for the first time, that maybe that was the reason they had always been so disconnected. Maybe her mother had always felt that drift between the two of them; maybe her mother wished that she could have had her own child instead of adopting this one. She had been disposed of as a young baby by the people who were _supposed _to love her. The people who were supposed to raise her. But then came Constance Isles, an elegant rich woman who wanted to have a baby, but couldn't carry one herself. She had provided her with shelter and food, and loved her a lot like she would love her own. But there was always this small space between them, this gap, that Maura had noticed and had always questioned. Was it because Maura wasn't _her _child? Constance Isles had _chosen _her, out of all those children for some reason or another and Maura could never thank her enough. But this is how she had repaid her, turning her back and choosing music over her own parents. Maybe that was the reason she would wake up in the middle of the night drenched in sweat. Guilt. She had always felt guilty because Constance had given her everything her biological parents could not, and she had walked away without a proper goodbye.

"I was adopted." She heard herself speaking, but her voice was unrecognisable. "so my mother never really had any reason to use that against me."

"Wow…I'm…uh…"

Maura laughed at Jane's stutter and shook her head, "It's not a bad thing. I love my parent's and It doesn't make me any different than you." _Except it does. _

_"_So what about you? I mean, what lead you to work with the police force?" Maura wondered if this question was too much, already figuring that Jane was doing everything she could to avoid any conversations about herself, but she couldn't help but want to know more. "It must be a little daunting sometimes?"

Jane seemed to find solace in her hands, and she fidgeted with the label of the bottle of beer she was holding, peeling it away from the glass and ripping off small pieces of paper. "I just knew it was something I had to do. I wanted to help people and I was always pretending to catch the bad guys with my little brothers when I was younger." She shrugged, but didn't break eye contact from her bottle that was now empty, "I guess you just _know _when you want to work in that profession."

"and now?"

Jane stood up and shifted on her feet uncomfortably, moving towards the kitchen and stopping dead at the fridge, back to Maura. Her voice, when she finally spoke up, was tired and defeated.

"I'm getting another beer, you need a top up?"

**So? Um…Yeah. Hope that's okay? **

**I'll update soon. **


	9. The first days of spring

_She could smell him hovering over her face and feel warmth on her cheek as he breathed. She knew he was close, too close, but she didn't move. __**Stay still. Stay perfectly still. **__She couldn't seem to calm down her erratic heartbeat or breathing and she worried if he could tell she was conscious. She could no longer feel the pain in her hands, which indicated that she was already in shock. She couldn't worry about what would happen with her hands if she ever got out of here because she had absolutely no doubt that she would take her last breath any minute. _

_This man was a killer. She had obsessed over him for weeks now, maybe months, and she had learned his MO back to front. She knew more about him than anyone else because she had insisted that __**this **__be her first big case in homicide. She couldn't help but internally kick herself for ever making that decision because everyone had warned her about this man. Charles Hoyt was unstoppable, but Big Brave Jane Rizzoli had to prove them all wrong. _

_She had spent her first few months in homicide being talked to like dirt and being pushed around. She had pushed herself to every limit and jumped through every loop to prove to the men in the department that she was more than capable and now she had nothing to show for it. She was pinned down on a dirty basement floor with a psychopath grinning over her shaking body. _

_Jane had felt fear before. She had been scared of heights her whole life, she had been scared of spiders for as long as she could remember. She didn't much like the dark when she was little, she had once been scared of the boogey man. Jane had been scared of things, just like everyone else. But this was a different kind of fear. This, she would remember for the rest of her life. It was like poison and it was coursing through her veins, pumping in her heart. This was like venom, paralysing every muscle in her body, making her breathing laboured and uneven. This fear was like being frozen from the inside out. _

Like every night, Jane woke up drenched in sweat. Thankfully, unlike any other night, she hadn't screamed or cried. She stretched her legs and sat up against the back of the couch, giving herself a moment to even out her breathing. She seemed to feel more at ease this time around and she momentarily wondered why that was. Maura Isles was in the other room. She couldn't explain it, but knowing that someone was in the house with her gave her a great deal of comfort. Knowing it was Maura made her want to smile.

It had been two days now since she had met Maura Isles. She had watched her sing twice from the side of the stage, watched her deal with press and do interviews for TV and radio. She had talked to her until 4:35am on the first night, but had fallen asleep the moment they came home from the second concert. If she took a moment to think about it, it was strange. She didn't know this woman, not really. Yet, for some strange reason, she felt completely at ease around her. She found it unbelievably easy to listen to her talk and even easier to listen to her singing. 

She sat up and looked towards the clock. It was 3:56am and she knew that going back to sleep would be pointless at this time considering that most of the nights she woke up it was impossible to get back to sleep. She knew she had to be up and ready to take Maura to her wardrobe fitting and breakfast and after she would be waiting for two hours while Maura did radio and local TV interviews and after that she had to get to sound check, hair and make up and perform the show, finishing off the night with a flight to her next city of choice.

Jane felt a little bittersweet about the whole thing. While there was a huge part of her that was sort of relieved that Maura was leaving, but there was another part of her that didn't want her to leave. She had spent over two hours staring at the ceiling and trying to figure out her feelings, but she just couldn't explain to herself why she was feeling this way. Maura Isles was an internationally known singer that performed her music to stadiums filled with grateful fans. Maura isles had three homes, all of which were at least ten times the size of Jane's apartment. Maura Isles liked shoes and clothes and Jane liked football and burgers. Maura Isles was on a completely different spectrum than Jane Rizzoli, a completely different universe, and yet she walked through this apartment like the size and the decor wasn't a factor. She looked at Jane like her unruly hair was actually sort of pretty. Maura looked at Jane like she had known her her entire life and Jane just couldn't understand why.

Was this normal? Was it okay to feel this way about a person? About another _woman? _

When she listed the things she liked about Maura in her head, she realised that there were more things than she realised she could like about anyone. She thought about her eyes, she thought about her curves, she thought about the way she talked and sang and _breathed. _She thought about how her lips moved when she smiled, she thought about the way she knew how to flawlessly put together a sentence that would captivate the hearts of a million people. She thought about her hair and how blonde and perfect it was. She thought about her laugh, about her walk, about her love for science.

When Jane thought of the reasons she shouldn't like Maura Isles, she came up completely dry. Only two days ago, she really didn't like this woman. She didn't like her money, she didn't like her cars, she didn't like her three homes and villa in hawaii. She didn't like her shoes, she didn't like that she played music for so many people.

How many people in the world had their opinions of another person change so drastically?

"Jane?"

Jane turned around to see a tired Maura standing beside the sofa and all of a sudden she realised that the sun was now peaking through the gaps in the blinds. She took a deep breath and noted the unreasonable tears in her eyes. She shook of the feeling of dread and stood up to face Maura and said,

"How long have you been awake?"

Maura plopped down on the sofa and rubbed at her eyes. "Not long. I'm actually exhausted. Touring can really take it out of you."

Jane smiled, _the way she rubs her eyes when she's tired,_ "You don't get many breaks, do you?"

"Not exactly."

Jane seemed to lose herself for a moment. This woman worked so very hard to keep up a perfect appearance, and yet she was sitting on her sofa with no make up on and a pair of pyjamas and Jane wondered if she had ever seen anything so beautiful in her entire life. She was sure she hadn't.

"So," Jane cleared her throat and made her way to the kitchen. "what happens after you leave Boston? I mean…security wise?"

"I think they're just going to hire other people, to be honest. I'm not sure if the new security will be quite as welcoming as yourself, Frost and Frankie have been to me."

Jane chuckled and poured out two fresh cups of coffee.

"I never thought I'd find myself drinking instant."

Maura was standing next to her now, her back leaning against the counter. Jane smiled, downing the entire cup of coffee and saying, "does the trick just the same."

"I suppose," Maura said "but you cannot beat a good cup of well prepared coffee."

She turned around to hand Maura her own cup and as she outstretched her arm, Maura outstretched her own. For a brief second, their fingers touched and a brief realisation caused Jane to nearly choke.

A long time ago, when she was young and…naive? she had been a bit of a hopeless romantic. She had read books about love, watched movies about love, listened to songs about love. She had heard the same thing over and over again and for most of her teenage years, she looked for what was in those movies. Electricity.

It was ten years of dating and relationships that made her realise that electricity isn't part of the human anatomy. She had come to realise that you can be happy without having a 'spark'. But it was 5am and she was standing in her kitchen holding a cup of instant coffee and another woman touched her hand for only a fraction of a second. That touch was more vivid than anything she had ever felt with another human being in her entire life.

She felt sick.

How could you possibly fall in love in the space of 48 hours? It was impossible. It couldn't be right. It _wasn't _right. She was sleep deprived, that had to be it.

She smiled and placed her coffee cup down on the table.

"I better have a shower."

**A/N: I'm so sorry it was so short and i'm especially sorry it took me so long to write it. MEGA writers block. I have already started the new chapter so I hope that I'll be able to post that really soon. **

**I'm a little worried though, so I need opinions. **

**What do you think about how quickly things are happening? I plan on taking it a bit slower after here in order to include some of the storyline about the stalker and stuff, but I'm not sure if i'm just rushing into things? **

**I suppose it just depends on what you think about 'love at first sight' **

**let me know? **

**thanks for reading! **


	10. Staring at the Stars

_**A/N: It's a short one, but I hope it's okay. Let me know what you think, thanks so so much for the response on the last chapter. What do you think I should do next? What do you think would be my best move? Should Jane stay in Boston, should Maura ask her to go with her? Do you think time apart would be a good idea to help them process their thoughts? **_

_"Do you think there's anything else out there?" _

_She was seventeen and they were laying on a field miles at the back of her house. She had her head on his chest and they were holding hands the way they always did. She was seventeen and she was sure she had never been this much in love. _

_"I doubt it." _

_They were different people in that sense. Because the parts of him that were filled with doubt and ignorance and naivety were always seeping through and she knew that she was filled with hope and wonder in those parts of herself. Where he wanted to get married and have a job, she wanted to explore the world and see the stars and, even though he would lay here with her in the middle of the night looking out at sky, she knew that would be as far as it would go. She knew he wouldn't travel, wouldn't seek new adventure. She knew he wouldn't watch those astrology shows with her or read horoscopes with her. She loved him more than she had ever thought she could love, but that amount of love still left room for doubt. _

_The fought a lot about what would happen when college came around. She had applied to BCU, but not even he knew that. She knew that she would join the police academy and he would go somewhere that had a top ranking sports programme and the idea scared her. Because she knew he loved her, but not enough to give up sports. She knew she wanted him to go somewhere good, and she knew that would be somewhere far away. _

_Maybe it was a good thing. Maybe then she could explore, she could travel. _

_Or Maybe she could be a cop, she could live with her parents until she got her badge, she could get a small apartment and beat up the bad on the street. _

_He could play sports and they'd both be happy. _

_Not together, but happy. _

_Maybe it wasn't normal to love someone this way. Maybe it wasn't normal to let them go so easily, but she worried that his dark parts would darken her light parts. His closed mindedness would cover up her amazement._

* * *

Jane blinked the memory away and smiled at how accurate her thoughts had been at such a young age. Her boyfriend at the time, Mark, had gone off to UCLA soon after high school ended. They had left things on good terms, but knew that long distance relationships were far too hard to keep up with. She had been accepted into BCU, but had denied her offer and took a place in the police academy. She never really fell in love after that, she was never really sure she was in love back then either. She always found ways to push men away, she always looked for things that would ruin the relationship rather than find out when it was too late. She always wondered why she had done this to herself, but part of her had always known.

"Could you pass me my shirt?"

They were sitting in Maura's dressing room and a comfortable silence had fallen over them for almost an hour now. The adrenaline from the gig had long since worn off and Maura had spent her time reading fan mail that people had left for her after her meet and greet. Both of them were pretending to occupy themselves with minor tasks, but they were deepy lost in thought. Both about each other, about what would happen after tonight, about their feelings, about how quickly those feelings appeared and how quickly they wished that they would go away when they separated.

Jane looked up from her book to see Maura, now standing in a bra, looking in her direction.

"I would get it myself, but you're kind of sitting on it."

It took a moment for her words to sink in and Jane wondered for a moment if she had been caught looking somewhere other than Maura's face. She sat forward and took Maura's shirt from behind her back.

She stood up so that they were face to face and took a step forward. The fabric between her fingers was soft and expensive, it served as a small reminder of the difference between Jane and Maura's life, but those differences seemed less and less important as the hours they spent together went on.

She smiled at how pretty Maura was, even with the remnants of eye make up she was wearing during the show she had just played. Even though her hair was in a messy effortless bun on top of her head and she had eye liner smudged on her eye lid. Her skin was soft, well cared for. Her lips were pink and glossy.

"did you…ah…did you make sure the car was getting here on time?"

She stepped a little closer and breathed in the sweet scent of expensive perfume and almond shampoo.

Part of her screaming that she was too close, that this was too much and the other part screaming to step closer, to wrap her arms around her waist.

"yeah."

Her face was only inches from Maura's, she could feel her breath, see every colour in her eyes. She could almost hear the rapid beating of her heart.

"have you um ha-"

Jane leaned in the extra few inches and touched her lips against Maura's.

She realised that there was more than one way to be starving.

That she had never felt this _right_.

That kissing someone had never felt this static before.

But then she realised that Maura might not feel the same way. She realised that Maura was leaving in less than an hour and they would never see each other again, she realised that she was kissing someone she had only just met. She realised that it was wrong and she pulled herself away despite the fact that Maura hadn't once argued or pushed her away. She realised that she could have stood there for hours, that everything around her might as well have just disappeared.

"God, I am so sorry…I…_" _

She placed her hand over her mouth and her other hand on her heart and stepped backwards towards the door, taking in once last glance at Maura before opening the door and running as fast as she possibly could.

and Maura stood there alone for a few minutes, fingers pressed against her parted lips, hands shaking.

"Come back."


End file.
